HAMPTON TWP — Tori Kopchak's eyes got as big as a planet when she saw the soccer ball fall at her foot.

The Mars sophomore forward swung her leg and poked the ball into the top corner of the net to send the Planets' girls soccer team to a 1-0 overtime win over Central Valley in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals at Hampton High School Wednesday night.

It was a frantic few seconds in front of the Central Valley goal with a little more than five minutes into overtime.

Warriors' keeper Lauren Hamilton had made a save on a shot by Erin Posey and the ball was bouncing around before Kopchak seized the moment.

“I just knew I had to finish it as quickly as I could,” Kopchak said. “So I threw a shot in there.”

The goal ended what was a defensive match.

The two teams managed just five combined shots in the first half.

“You normally have that first five, 10 minutes where teams are checking each other out and getting a feel for what they are going to do,” said Mars girls soccer coach Blair Gerlach. “We got to halftime and both teams were still feeling each other out.”

The pace picked up considerably in the second half.

Central Valley, the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion, had two excellent scoring chances, but was turned away by Mars keeper Sammy Papik.

The Planets also had several opportunities that were thwarted by Hamilton.

“We had chances. They had chances,” said Central Valley girls soccer coach Mark Perry, who coached Gerlach at Hampton in 1990, the year the Talbots won a state title. “It was going to be a break here, a break there.”

The Warriors (12-5-2) didn't get a break when their most dangerous player, Carolina Lucci, left the match early in the first half with an injury.

“She had 40 goals last year, and we had to play without her,” Perry said. “I'm really proud of the girls to hang in there. We're a 10-seed and Mars is a two-seed. I thought our defense played great.”

Mars (17-3) survives to play Yough (17-0-2) Monday in the WPIAL semifinals at a site and time to be determined.

Should the Planets lose, they would still have a shot at a spot in the state playoffs with a consolation match slated for Oct. 29.

Mars, which won the state title in 2011, only has two seniors on its roster.

The Planets are 72-0-1 in section play the last five-plus seasons, the last league loss coming when they were in Class AAA in 2009.

“We were told at the beginning of the year that we weren't going to be the Mars team that we've been. And we're not,” Gerlach said. “We're a different team, and our different is doing it. It's getting it done right now.

“It's been a solid six years,” Gerlach added. “A lot of the kids now starting were the kids who were running the lines, being ball girls in fifth-grade, sixth-grade.”

Kopchak was one of them. Now she can add her name to the list of players who have scored big playoff goals in the pantheon of Mars girls soccer.

“They were some really amazing players,” Kopchak said. “And they really inspired us. They'll send us texts of good luck and stuff like that. I think we're going well so far.”